• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.259-266
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• 2019

Tuning of electro-optical properties of nano-structured $SnO_2:Ga$ powders in a micro drop fluidized reactor (MDFR) was highly effective to enhance the activities of powders to be used as sensor materials. The tuning was conducted continuously in a facile one-step process during the formation of powders. The microscopic hydrodynamic forces affected the band gap structure and charge transfer of $SnO_2:Ga$ powders through the oxygen and interfacial tin vacancies by providing plausible pyro-hydraulic conditions, which resulted in the decrease in the electrical resistance of the materials. The analyses of room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra and FT-IR exhibited that the tuning could improve the surface activities of $SnO_2:Ga$ powders by adjusting the excitation as well as separation of electrons and holes, thus maximizing the oxygen vacancies at the surface of the powders. The scheme of photocatalytic mechanism of $SnO_2:Ga$ powders was also discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.217-232
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• 2019

Modular steel buildings consist of prefabricated room-sized structural units that are manufactured offsite and installed onsite. The inter-module connections must fulfill the assembly construction requirements and soundly transfer the external loads. This work proposes an innovative assembled connection suitable for modular buildings with concrete-filled steel tube columns. The connection uses pretensioned strands and plugin bars to vertically connect the adjacent modular columns. The moment-transferring performance of this inter-module connection was studied through monotonic and cyclic loading tests. The results showed that because of the assembly construction, the connected sections were separated under lateral bending, and the prestressed inter-module connection performed as a weak semirigid connection. The moment strength at the early loading stage originated primarily from the contact bonding mechanism with the infilled concrete, and the postyield strength depended mainly on the tensioned strands. The connection displayed a self-centering-like behavior that the induced deformation was reversed during unloading. The energy dissipation originated primarily from frictional slipping of the plugin bars and steel strands. The moment transferring ability was closely related to the section dimension and the arrangements of the plugin bars and steel strands. A simplified strength calculation and evaluation method was also proposed, and the effectiveness was validated with the test data.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.152-157
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• 2021

The pseudocapacitor has a high energy density characteristic because it accumulates charges through a paradic redox reaction. However, due to its strong insulation properties, metal hydroxides should be designed as structural systems optimized for charge transfer to support fast electron transport. Also, Nickel material is weak to heat and is easily deformed when used as a cathode material, so stability must be secured. In this study, nickel hydroxide was produced by electrodeposition to secure the stability of nickel. Electrodeposition is a synthetic method suitable for growing optimized nickel hydroxide because it allows fine control. Nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)₂) is a metal hydroxide used as a pseudocapacitor anode due to its high capacitance, electrical conductivity and resistance. Therefore, in order to determine how Ni(OH)₂ nanosheets are formed and what are the optimization conditions, various measurement methods were used to focus on structural growth of nanosheets produced by electrodeposition.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.32-40
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• 2022

The o-Vanillin - Glutamine Schiff base [2-Hydroxy-3-Methoxy BenzylidineCarbomyl) -2-Butanoic Acid] was examined for low carbon steel corrosion inhibition in acid media. Weight loss studies were carried out at three different temperatures to determine the inhibition efficiency (IE). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed that the charge transfer resistance controlled the corrosion reaction and Tafel polarization indicated that the Schiff base acts as mixed mode of inhibitor. SEM images were recorded for the surface morphology of the low carbon steel surface. DFT studies revealed corrosion control mechanisms using quantum chemical parameters such as E_HOMO, E_LUMO, energy gap (∆E), chemical Hardness (η), chemical Softness (σ), Electronegativity (χ), and the fraction of electron transferred (∆N), which is calculated using Gaussian software 09. The gas-phase geometry was fully optimized in the Density Functional Theory (DFT/B3LYP-6-31G (d)).The DFT results are in good agreement with the experimental results. All the results proved that the Schiff Base (2-Hydroxy-3-Metoxy BenzylidineCarbomyl) -2-Butanoic is a suitable alternative for corrosion inhibition of low carbon steel in acid media.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.171-183
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• 2022

The performance and inhibitory action of the aqueous extract of Cyperus Conglomeratus's leaves against corrosion of XC70 steel in a 1M HCl acid medium are studied by the determination of the weight loss, the potentiodynamic polarization curves analysis, and electrochemical impedance measurements (electrochemical techniques). The corrosion inhibitory efficiency of XC70 steel increases with the increasing concentration of the green inhibitor, however, the corrosion rate of the steel decreases. Weight loss measurements show that the maximum percentage corrosion inhibition efficiency is approximately 61.86%, while the analysis of the mixed character polarization curves shows that the inhibitor could achieve an inhibition efficiency of 86.96%. The electrochemical impedance study confirmed that the value of the charge transfer resistance (R_ct) increases and the value of the double layer capacity (C_dl) decreases with increasing concentration of the aqueous extract of Cyperus Conglomeratus's leaves, thus increasing the inhibition efficiency. The study showed that this aqueous extract acts by adsorption on the metal surface; this adsorption follows the Langmuir isotherm. This research work showed that Cyperus Conglomeratus leaves extract acts as an effective and eco-friendly inhibitor on mild steel in an acid medium.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.315-337
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• 2023

The steel structure is an assembly of individual structural members joined together by connections. The connections are the focal point to transfer the forces which is susceptible to damage easily. It is challenging to replace the affected connection parts after an earthquake. Hence, steel plates are utilised as a structural fuse that absorbs connection forces and fails first. The objective of the present research is to develop a beam-column end plate connection with single and dual fuse and study the effect of single fuse, dual fuse and combined action of fuse and damper. In this research, seismic resilient beam-column end plate connection is developed in the form of structural fuse. The novel connection consists of one main fuse was placed horizontally and secondary fuse was placed vertically over main fuse. The specimens are fabricated with the variation in number of fuse (single and dual) and position of fuse (beam flange top and bottom). From the fabricated ten specimens five specimens were loaded monotonically and five cyclically. The experimental results are compared with Finite Element Analysis results of Arunkumar and Umamaheswari (2022). The results are critically assessed in the aspect of moment-rotation behaviour, strain in connection components, connection stiffness, energy dissipation characteristics and ductility. While comparing the performance of total five specimens, the connection with fuse exhibited superior performance than the conventional connection. An equation is proposed for the moment of resistance of end-plate connection without and with structural fuse.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2012

The cathode catalyst layer in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) was fabricated with anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template and its structure was characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The SEM analysis showed that the catalyst layer was fabricated the Pt nanowire with uniform shape and size. The BET analysis showed that the volume of pores in range of 20-100 nm was enhanced by AAO template. The electrochemical properties with the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) were evaluated by current-voltage polarization measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results showed that the MEA with AAO template reduced the mass transfer resistance and improved the cell performance by approximately 25% through controlling the structure of catalyst layer.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2017

In this work, two different platinum (Pt) counter electrodes have been prepared by spin coating a Pt solution and screen printing a Pt paste on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate followed by sintering at $380^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analyses of the Pt electrodes showed that the spin coated electrode was catalytically more active than the screen printed electrode. The above result agrees well with the surface morphology of the electrodes studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the photovoltaic performance of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) fabricated with the Pt electrodes. Moreover, calculation of current density-voltage (j-V) curves according to diode model with the parameters obtained from the experimental j-V curves and the EIS data of the DSSCs provided a quantitative insight about how the catalytic activity of the counter electrodes affected the photovoltaic performance of the cells. Even though the experimental situations involved in this work are trivial, the method of analyses outlined here gives a strong insight about how the catalytic activity of a counter electrode affects the photovoltaic performance of a DSSC. This work, also, demonstrates how the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs can be improved by tuning the performance of counter electrode materials.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.419-425
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• 2017

In this study, an efficient dye-sensitive solar cells (DSSC) was developed after post-treatment of ZnO on $TiO_2$ photoelectrode. The $TiO_2$ electrode with ZnO post treatment was prepared with Titanium isoporopoxide in Zinc Nitrate Hexahydrate aqueous solution by incineration for 30 min at $450^{\circ}C$. The ZnO-post treated $TiO_2$ electrode showed strong dispersion force between particles in relation to the control $TiO_2$, referring high specific surface area and dye-adsorption rate. Proper addition of ZnO enhanced electron mobility and reduced internal resistance and electron recombination. Light conversion efficiency of DSSCs containing the ZnO-posttreated $TiO_2$ electrode increased 35.4% when compared to the DSSCs using $TiO_2$ electrode. It is similar to the DSSCs with $TiCl_4$ post treatment $TiO_2$ electrode. Increasing of light conversion efficiency was due to high specific surface area and dispersion force, and low dye-adsorption rate and electron recombination. Taken together, ZnO may be used as posttreatment of photoelectrode and replaced $TiCl_4$ that has high toxicity and causticity.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2018

In this study, boron - doped carbon was prepared by reducing carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) at high temperature by using sodium borohydride ($NaBH_4$). The boron - doped carbon was coated on carbon felt and applied as an electrode for a vanadium redox battery cell. As a result of electrochemical performance evaluation, reversibility of carbon felt coated with boron doped carbon compared to pure carbon felt was improved by about 20% and charge transfer resistance was reduced by 60%. In the charge / discharge results, energy density and energy efficiency were improved by 21% and 12.4%, respectively. These results show that carbon produced by reduction of $CO_2$ can be used as electrode material for redox flow battery.